Airtel’s app currently works within the Delhi-National Capital Region at all Café Coffee Day outlets and some hotels and hospitals.Danish Khan | ET Bureau | Updated: September 03, 2015, 10:21 IST

Bharti Airtel, India's leading telecom service provider, has launched a Wi-Fi application called Hangouts aimed at shifting data traffic away from the cellular network to help decongest it and improve services, the company said.

The apps require a one-time sign-in and can be used in Wi-Fi zones that offer data services through unlicensed, or freely available, spectrum.

Airtel's app currently works within the Delhi-National Capital Region at all Cafe Coffee Day outlets and some hotels and hospitals.

"We have Wi-Fi hotspots in about 100 locations in Delhi-NCR area," an Airtel spokesperson told ET. The Vodafone app can be used in over 100 zones in major cities, including Delhi-NCR.

With these apps, consumers get better network quality at the same price and don't have to pay for network congestion, said Rohan Dhamija, partner and head, India and South Asia, at Analysys Mason, a consulting firm.

However, Airtel and Vodafone may not reap any benefit because the Wi-Fi service is not free and data consumption will be deducted from the existing 3G or 4G packs of subscribers, an industry insider said.

"End consumers are not getting any data discounts or any additional benefit," the person said.

Both companies are building hotspots by themselves or through their equal joint venture FireFly Networks.

Their focus is on cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru, where data consumption is skyrocketing amid growing sales of smartphones and wider acceptance of 3G and 4G services that have congested networks.

Inconsistent data speeds over the cellular networks have prompted rising subscriber complaints. The Wi-Fi apps reduce the amount of data consumed on these networks - known as offloading -- and frees up bandwidth. Idea Cellular and Aircel are also looking at Wi-Fi as an alternative data service.

Sameer Dave said that the industry has come to that stage where major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru are getting spectrum limited, and WiFi offloading is an effective medium to free bandwidth for other users.

"We've done some deployments but not in Delhi. We're doing experimentation in Pune, Maharashtra, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. So wherever there is need of offloading, we are doing it," Dave said.

Wi-Fi offloading is crucial given the limited spectrum available in the country, according to Dhamija of Analysys Mason. The technology allows telcos to improve user experience, reduce subscriber churn and increase the data customer base.

Airtel's Hangouts app is currently available for Android-based smartphones and will be available for Apple's iOS users soon. Vodafone's WiFi Connect app can be downloaded for both Android phones and Apple's iPhones.